Boomers fall to Florence in extra innings

The Schaumburg Boomers concluded the regular season by suffering a 7-6 walk-off defeat to the Florence Y’Alls in Kentucky as Florence swept the three-game series.

Schaumburg jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning. Chase Dawson led off the inning with a single and Christian Fedko was hit by a pitch. The first run crossed on a wild pitch and Kyle Fitzgerald lifted a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring. Florence tied the game in the bottom of the inning.

Dawson homered in the fourth to hand the Boomers a 3-2 edge. The hosts scored four unanswered to lead 6-3 into the eighth. Banks Tolley tied the game with a three-run homer in the top of the eighth. Florence loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with no outs and won the game on a sacrifice fly.

Ross Thompson started the finale and threw five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Nick Paciorek, Dallas Woolfolk, Mitch White and Caleb Riedel all appeared in relief.

The Boomers (58-38) have secured home field advantage for the playoffs and will play on the road in the opener of the best-of-three wild card series against either Washington or Lake Erie depending on results Sunday night. Playoff tickets are on sale now. The Boomers will host the second game of the wild card series on Sept. 5.